Greece will legislate measures agreed with lenders in coming weeks

Reuters Staff

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FILE PHOTO: Greek flags are displayed for sale for one Euro at a shop in Athens, Greece, July 26, 2015. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou/File Photo

VALETTA (Reuters) - Greece will legislate fiscal measures agreed with its international creditors in the coming weeks, the country’s Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said after a meeting of euro zone finance ministers in Malta on Friday.

“The austerity measures will be legislated now, in the coming weeks and the positive (offsetting measures) will be adopted now and activated if we meet our targets,” Tsakalotos said during a press briefing in Malta.

Greece agreed to take measures to cut pension spending by 1 percent of economic output in 2019, a year after its current bailout program expires. It will also lower the income tax-free threshold to raise another 1 percent of GDP in 2020.

The country is also expected to legislate tax reductions, which will be activated if it meets its agreed targets.

Greece will not be forced liberalize collective dismissals, while collective bargaining will be revived from September 2018.